The Platts July Japan Korea Marker was assessed at $14.675/MMBtu Friday, gaining $0.125 from the previous Friday's $14.55/MMBtu, as buyers waded back out into the market for summer cargoes.
Despite expectations that the lifting of the force majeure at Nigeria LNG on Monday would increase available supplies, offers for prompt July and August held firm at the high $14s/MMBtu and $15/MMBtu and above respectively.
Bids for July were stagnant in the low to mid-$14s/MMBtu as the majority of business had been concluded for the month. The end to supply disruptions at NLNG had also closed some of the short positions in Asia for mid-late July, sources said.
However, buyers and traders showed renewed interest for August, with bids in the mid-$14s/MMBtu. Many had been waiting for production to resume at both NLNG and Statoil's Hammerfest facility to gage the supply situation before showing their bids.
This was most apparent in Japan, where a total of up to five cargoes could be required over August. Taiwan was also expected to return to the market, as energy demand had spiked in recent weeks owing to high temperatures. However, it was unclear at this point whether CPC would draw on term partners or opt for a spot purchase.
Thailand's PTT had yet to cover any potential August requirement, sources said, who anticipated that the buyer would seek at least one cargo over the month.
In South Korea, the restart of the 1 GW Hanbit-3 reactor had eased the ongoing energy crisis slightly, although nine out of 23 nuclear reactors remained offline. While Kogas remained on the sidelines of the market, drawing on its term partners to cover additional requirements, smaller South Korean buyers were heard to be making some inquiries for cargoes.
Despite seemingly ample supplies within Asia, optimization and traders short a cargo threatened to drive August prices higher, particularly as the arbitrage between the Atlantic and Asia remained closed.
On the supply side, Brunei LNG was widely agreed to have closed a supply tender for at least one cargo loading on July 21. A second was also said to be available for August. There was no clear indication whether an award had been made as yet. A trader was reported to have entered the bidding process to supply a term cargo into North Asia, one source said.
Bontang LNG was yet to launch its tender for up to four cargoes over July and August, market sources said. Meanwhile, both the Sakhalin and Yemen LNG projects were said to have available cargoes for both months.
In India, buying interest had slumped with the start of the monsoon season, although there was some interest further out, with sources saying GAIL closed an eight cargo buy tender for September 2013-May 2014.
The Asia Pacific Day Rate was assessed at $95,000/day, up $5,000/day as a spate of intra-region charters reducing the availability of vessels for spot charters in the market.
